MinkFlamingos

Sep 28 The Weekly Peanut, Issue 189

It's still September. We've now done two Not So Scary Halloween Parties. I'd like to say I'm clearly nuts, but honestly? I love this party and have no shame. Also, now, no money. C'est la vie. A Friday night party that's not sold out and a largely empty Magic Kingdom? We would have been crazy NOT to go to the party.

Our agenda for our second party was much simpler: no agenda. Or more accurately, that we would meander, relax, make sure to take in the fireworks this time, see where the night took us. Got to the park around 4 and it was EMPTY. Almost every ride had under 10 minute wait. So we rode rides.

You're good, kid, but as long as I'm around, you're only second best.

Amanda had to sit on the kids' side on the people mover.

Daphne said she wanted to go on Carousel of Progress. Dodged that bullet when Maddie declared she wanted to ride Pirates instead.

Went to the tiki room. Of course. Danced and sang along obnoxiously. Of course. Changed the girls into their coordinating costumes before hopping onto the jungle book. The never ending saga of getting these two both in good moods is perfectly illustrated by the impromptu photo shoot.

D was feeling her oats for sure. She was cocking her hips, popping sassy poses, selling the GARMENT DAHLING, and Maddie? Having none. Zero. Chris came to hang out, too.

Daphne really likes his Kylo Ren phone case

At one point during Maddie's refusal to participate, her Mom asked something along the lines of "Kid, what is your problem?" D piped up "I KNOW WHAT WRONG WITH HER!" Oh? "YEAH SHE GOT A ATTITUDE." That's our cue to pick ourselves up off the ground and go on the ride, try again later.

Congratulations to our Jungle Cruise Skipper for making me absolutely lose my ish when she called the giraffes "Long-Necked Cheetahs." Took another stab at pictures after the ride. This time? Maddie was all about it. D? Not so much.

But I'm not above bribery. One dangled pack of fruit snacks later...

The party was getting ready to start, so we opted for one last classic Disney experience.

Had an almost private viewing of Country Bear Jamboree. Just as well since Ian and I loudly cackle through the whole thing and vigorously cheer for Big Al. As we left the Country Bears, the proper party was just getting started, so we hopped right into the line to see Jasmine's new outfit and the Genie. They rotate meeting shifts with Aladdin and Abu. I had to reassure D many times that, although while we were in line Aladdin and Abu were out, we would indeed be seeing Jasmine and the new dress.

D was having the best time handing out treat bags that night. She gave them to just about every blueberry she met in addition to the characters. She would come up to me and ask for one out of the cooler, and I'd let her distribute them as she saw fit. Then she'd dole out big ol' cuddly hugs right after. And, despite any chatter you might have seen on social media, Jasmine's dress really IS spectacularly beautiful and elegant in person. And as someone who has had plenty to say about the "exposure" she got in her former outfit, I'm 100% on board with this change. Now we just need Disney to update the costumes they sell to the kids. We saw Jafar doing meets right nearby. D really surprised me by declaring she'd like to meet Jafar. Unfortunately his line was closed at the moment, but good to know she was having an open mind about the whole thing after watching him be on his best behavior with other guests. We moseyed into the hub to see what the crowd was like for the first Hocus Pocus show. Not as empty as last time, but still plenty of space right in front of the stage. So we grabbed it.

I will go into mourning when this show leaves again in November.

We decided to attempt our wiggle down main street again to grab a spot for first parade. The night was even less busy than our previous party, and yet again we snagged a spot right in front of City Hall for the first Boo To You with just minutes to spare before the Zoo Crew arrived.

Thank goodness they were handing out smaller lollipops this time, so I had no problem letting D finish hers off.

Ask me again why I love the Halloween parties so much... (the humidity was off the charts, though, look at my poor kid's hair). There were no float malfunctions so we got to see Boo To You in all it's choreographed glory.

We moseyed up toward Liberty Square to check out the Halloween stuff up there (we'd never been to Adventureland or Liberty Square during a party before this). We took a brief detour so the girls could wave at Jack and Sally as they walked out to their meeting area. While we waited, I found out what would happen if you gave my kid a glowstick.

We caught up with Ashley and Baby Addison outside the Haunted Mansion to see the sassy ghost stationed outside. I didn't get any pictures this time, but she's definitely worth a visit as she interacts with everybody in line. We opted to watch Hallowishes from Fantasyland. You can still hear the music, but it's so nice not being jammed it with all the people in the hub. Plus you don't get caught up in the crush of people as they try to leave right after them.

While we watched, a friend of mine messaged me to let me know that the 7 Dwarfs had NO LINE if we wanted to visit. Normally it's a minimum of an hour wait (why we planned last time to camp out in the line and get that visit in the first set). We made our way over to their spot and, indeed. Maybe a ten minute wait. We hopped into the queue, and I grabbed some treat bags.

What a hot mess of a good time. Thank goodness there weren't many people in line, so we didn't have to feel too bad about monopolizing the Dwarfs for so long. Highlights include: D scolding Dopey loudly for hoarding treat bags even though Grumpy was doing the same thing, and Dopey offering Daphne his stool, only to have Daphne pointedly scoot up onto Grumpy's stool with him instead. Also Bashful's hilarious creepy backward shuffle with Maddie in hug hold. Not just a highlight of the party, but a highlight in our entire Disney Passholder lifetime.

As we left the 7 Dwarfs, we noticed that Cruella was out at the train station next door. With no line. WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?

At that point we had to haul tushy to Town Square to catch the second Boo To You parade and catch up with Ashley and Addison. We were actually racing the Zoo Crew down Main Street. I let D get out when Judy Hopps came over and gave D a big hug under the train station. D finally got to meet Katy, and they had a grand old time. Maddie had passed out by then.

As the Zoo Crew ended, D disappeared. Turns out she'd run back over to Judy Hopps to grab TWO more cuddles. Love that bunny.

Grabbed our spot back at City Hall. D stayed awake and cheered on her favorite parade. We called it a night as D continued to protest how not tired she was. She was pretty much out before we even got off the monorail.

We got home so late, we ended up laying around the host mostly Saturday, recovering. D decided to clean. Cleaning, to her, is picking everything up off the floor and putting it on furniture. But I'll take it. I'll have her vacuuming in no time.

Sunday we decided to run errands. D loves sporting good stores for one reason.

Had lunch at Smokey Bones. Then I introduced D to proper shopping techniques. At Kohl's she went nuts huffing candles, and Ian offered to buy her one of her choosing. Yes, it's pumpkin spice scented (and she insists on us lighting it for her during bedtime story every night). Went to TJ Maxx, and she helped me dig through the racks for my size (she actually picked out a really cute shirt that I ended up buying). Then we went to Old Navy, and this time I let her pick out some stuff to try on in the dressing room. This has opened up a whole new world to my child, apparently, who had about the best time ever pulling her size off the rack and then showing off outfits for Daddy.

Here's her haul. That hat is the best $1.47 I've ever spent. Went home and D proceeded to wipe the floor with me at Candyland.